Valve for motor vehicle suction lines



jan. 26, 1937. E. c. HORTON y VALVE FORYMOTOR VEHICLE SUCTION LINES Filed Nov. s, 1953 lNvENTOR 4 Erwm Chor'on., BY

ATTORNEYS 45 taining therein will function to sound the de- Patented Jan. 26, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Erwin C. Horton, Hamburg, N. Y., assignor to Trico Products Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application November 6, 1933, Serial No. 696,876

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an air valve for motor vehicle accessory systems and is particularly adapted for control valves for suction oper-ated accessories, such as air horns and signals.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide a valve in the suction line between the accessory and a source of low pressure, such as the intake manifold of the motor vehicle combustion engine, wherein the valve is held to its seat by a fluid pressure differential in which the low pressure acting on the under side of the valve is in communication with the manifold. Such low pressure varies according to the position of the engine throttle and when the suction is high great effort and energy is required to lift or crack the valve from its seat and therefore more powerful means are necessitated to open the valve.

The present invention has for its object to provide a valve construction in which the valve is readily lifted from its seat with a minimum One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an accessory system for a motor vehicle utilizing the present air valve;

Fig. 2 is a view of the control unit for the horn system, portions being in section to more clearly disclose the invention;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view illustrating the operation of the control valve; and

Fig. 4 is a detailed plan view of the valve actuator cage.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 wherein a horn system is depicted by way of illustration, the numeral I designates the intake manifold of the internalcombustion engine 2, 3 the air horns or signals, 4- the electro-magnetic air control valve generally, and 5 the horn button located on the steering wheel 6 and connected in circuit with the control 4 and a source of energy, such as the battery 1, so that when the circuit is closed by means of the push button 5 the electro-magnetic control is energized to open the air-signals to the intake manifold whereby the low pressure mainsired signal. An electric signal B may be provided for being automatically connected into the button circuit by an'automatic pressure responsive connector 9 when the suction in the intake manifold is insuiiicient to actuate the air horns, such connector being of any approved type and therefore not illustrated herein in detail as it forms no part of the present invention.

Referring more particularly to the remaining figures of the drawing, the control unit comprises a casing I0 having a valve chamber I I opening through a valve seat I2 into a low pressure passage I3 which latter in turn is connected by a conduit I4 to the intake manifold I. A valve I5 normally engages the seat I2 and is held thereon by the low pressure in passage I3 and the high pressure in chamber II which latter is connected by one or more communicating passages I6 to the air signals 3.

The valve is disengaged from its seat by an actuator I1 which may be in the form of a core or armature for the solenoid or electro-magnet generallyindicated at I8, the latter being connected in circuit with the push button 5. When the solenoid or electro-magnet is deenergized the core I1 is projected as by means of a spring I9 so that the valve may find ready and proper enmomentum to lift the valve from its seat, the

valve is connected to the core by a play connection in the form of a cage having the confining fingers 20, 2|, and 22. These fingers freely receive the valve therebetween and have shoulders 23, 24, and 25 overhanging the marginal edge of the valve and in spaced relation thereto so that during the initial movement of the core the fingers will have a preliminary idle movement free and independent of the valve before their shoulders contact the latter. This permits the core to gain sufficient momentum so that when the linger shoulders contact with the valve suiiicient force is present to quickly crack the valve oif its seat. 'Ihese valve eng'aging lingers may be readiiy formed by a stamping out operation, with the fingers radiating from a central plate 26 which has an aperture 2l to receive a mounting extension 28 on the core.

To facilitate the lifting of the valve from its seat means are provided to effect an uneven lifting of the valve so that the valve will be cracked from its seat at one side before the entire valve is lifted out of engagement with the seat. Such means according to the present disclosure is embodied in the valve engaging shoulders 23, 24, and 25 and their disposition in different planes so that the lowermost shoulder 23 will initially engage the valve and tilt the same on its seat followed by a subsequent engagement by the shouldersA 24, there being two such shoulders disposed at diametrically disposed points, and lastlybythe shoulder 25 which efiects a complete separation of the valve from its seat.

Such oisetting of the shoulders is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 4 wherein the valve cage is opened up in plan view, the extremities of the fingers 20, 2|, and 22 being upset along the outer dotted lines at relatively varying distances, as indicated bythe broken circles, whereby the shoulders are oiset in such relation so that when the ilngers are further upset along the inner dotted lines the shoulders 24 Will lie substantially in the same plane, with the shoulders 23 and 25 disposed above and below such plane of the shoulders 2LT y It will thus be observed that, by the initial cracking of the valve from its seat at one side thereof, the opening of the valve is greatly facilitated and expedited with the smallest amount of eort so that a prompt response of the air signal will beobtained with the least expense of energy.

What is claimed is:

1. A control for motor vehicle accessories coniprislng a valve seat, a valve disc engaging the seat, and an electro-magnetic valve actuator having a, play connection with the valve for forcing the valve from its seat, said connection including shoulder portions in different transverse planes for engaging and supporting the margin of the valve at an incline to its seat whereby to initially break the uid seal by tilting the valve upon its seat during a valve opening movement.

2. A control for motor vehicle accessories comprising a valve seat, a valve engaging the seat, and a valve actuator normally free ofthe valve and embodying valve lifting fingers overhanging the margin of the valve for forcing the latter from its seat, said fingers being of varying lengths so as to tilt the valve initially on its seat when lifting the valve from its seat.

3. A control for motor vehicle uid accessories comprising a valve seat, a valve engaging the seat and having a peripheral margin, and an actuator for the valve having a cage freely embracing the peripheral margin of the valve with two pairs of opposed shoulders engaging beyond the peripheral lmargin to force the valve from its seat, the shoulders of one pair being relatively .olf-set to opposite sides of the plane including the companion pair of shoulders whereby one of said olf-set shoulders will initially engage the peripheral margin to tilt the valve prior to engagement of such margin by the remaining shoulders.

4. A control for motor vehicle accessories, comprising a valve seat, a valve member engaging the seat, and a valve actuating member normally free of the valve, one of said members embodying lifting finger portions overhanging the marginA of the other of said members for forcing the valve memberl from its seat, said finger portions being of varying lengths so as to tilt the valve member initially on its seat when lifting said valve member from its seat.

ERWIN C. HORTON. 

